


Learn To Be Lonely

by starrdxst



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, F/M, Hurts So Good, Joel needs a hug, joel being sad af, reader finds out he lied, you left him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 17:07:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30092355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrdxst/pseuds/starrdxst
Summary: Joel comes home to an empty house after you left
Relationships: Joel (The Last of Us)/Original Female Character(s), Joel (The Last of Us)/Reader
Kudos: 6





	Learn To Be Lonely

Joel held his breath as he dared to open the front door. He knew you were mad at him. Perhaps even angry and betrayed. After being on the run with him for so long, you’d think he’d finally open up at Jackson. No, that was never the case. Instead, it just got worse. Joel became socially distant from everyone, including you.

The fear of losing people he loved became stronger with safe walls and a roof over his head. He doesn’t want to become weak and unable to protect himself and others. Loneliness is a word he is familiar with. It used to bring the aging man peace. Now? It just hurts like his heart was broken into millions of pieces.

You’ve tried for so long to understand his pain and fears. To hold his hand and teach him it’s okay to trust you. That he is able to tell you anything and you’ll never judge him. Joel never told you about his life and instead lied about it all. He painted a picture of him using the wrong colors. They were bright and full of bliss and innocence. Joel never told you about being a hunter that killed innocent people. He never mentioned his daughter Sarah. He never told you the truth about Ellie and what he did at the hospital. Joel took away the chance of a new world. He was selfish and saved Ellie. She could’ve been the reason for a cure for this mess. But he took it away. The worst part? Joel doesn’t regret a damn thing.

That resulted in you leaving him without second thoughts. All the lies and fake memories he told you from his life made you feel sick now that you knew what he actually done. See, you’re delicate. Too soft for a man like him. He can kill without mercy while you cry for the bad people, thinking they just need someone to talk to. But slowly, Joel became a bad person in your mind. Hearing about everything from someone else and not himself made you beyond upset.

So here you are, away from home. Away from the man that protected you and guided you through the years. You took everything of yours and left his home that was settled within Jackson. No note, no heads up. It’s hard staying away. All you want is to run into his arms and fall asleep beside him again. Your heart knows best, though. You cant fix people. You cant love them enough to fix them.

So there he is, sitting in the living room holding his guitar to feel something other than his light and love slipping away. His chest is heavy with pain. His throat is burning and tightening from the urge to cry as his eyes scan the house you once lived in with him. You’re no longer there. No more giggles from the room over. No more hugs from behind. No more scooping you up from the couch to carry you to bed after you fell asleep waiting for him to return from a patrol shift.

Just like years ago when his beloved daughter passed away, he has to re-learn to be lonely. To accept it and move on. To “keep finding something to fight for,” but that was you. With you gone and Ellie no longer talking to him, he is empty. A shell of a man. He doesn’t even recognize himself. All Joel can do is weep on the inside, wishing his life could end sooner.


End file.
